The following is a work of fiction. Any similarities are entirely fortuitous. The story may contain profanity and references to gay sex. If such content offends you please leave now. The author retains all rights to the story. Do not copy or use without written authority from the author. Write Bobby at this address with your comments.

Tyler:

The sight I saw fueled my rage beyond belief. The gas pedal was to the floor. Not caring about the law or anything else for that matter, I drove up into the groves. When I saw them just yards from my bumper, I slammed my brakes on. Although the groves were dirt, obviously, I came to a screeching halt.

"You, you're coming with me!" I yelled, grabbing my son away from the other boys. I pulled my cell phone out and dialed the schools number. "Gary, it's Tyler Delfino, I need campus security in the orange groves next to the T-wing immediately."

I drug my son and forced him into my Murano. As for the other kids, I just made sure they stayed in place until an officer arrived. Luckily for me the officer was there within a few seconds, lights and siren blaring.

"What do we have here, Mr. Delfino?" Officer Charles asked while walking towards me to shake my hand.

"These three decided to smoke it up in the groves," I explained to him. "My son was also involved, but I'll be handling that on my own."

The three boys looked at me pleadingly, but I tossed my pity for them aside. I let Charles write them up. After that was done, we talked for a few minutes then I got back in my Murano and headed home. The entire trip was silent. It was dangerously hot outside and I couldn't turn on the air; I could only have the windows down. If I didn't have the windows down, there was a chance I would've thrown up from the pungent smell of pot coming from Travers.

When I pulled into the driveway, Travers barely let me stop before he jumped out and heatedly walked in to his room. I was right behind him, however, and figured I should start laying down the law.

"What in the hell were you thinking?" I harshly asked him.

"Don't even talk to me," he responded angrily.

"You are grounded, you are so grounded. No talking on the phone, no going out with friends, no nothing."

He stopped at the fridge and turned around to face me. Tears were falling from his bloodshot eyes. "I don't care. Ground me until I'm eighteen. I don't give a shit anymore! Why the hell should I?"

"Watch your language, Travers!"

"You don't care about me! No one cares about me! My parents gave me up for adoption when I was four and Keegan when he was one. We went through so much shit at the foster home. We were always moving around. And then finally we get adopted by two gay guys." He was now sobbing heavily. I felt so bad for him at this point. My anger just seemed to have disappeared.

"Travers, I know you're upset, but I think we should..." I tried, but he cut me off.

"No, I just want to die. The only reason I'm sticking around is because of Keegan. If he wasn't my brother, I wouldn't be alive right now. I hate my life." Travers cried loudly.

"Son..."

"I'm not your son. You're not my dad. Just stop pretending you are and leave me alone." He stormed off into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

His words deeply cut me. I love him so much, just as if he were blood. I love him and Keegan both so passionately. Before the tears could start up, I dropped my bag then went to the fridge and retrieved a brand new bottle of pinot noir. Figuring I wouldn't need a glass I just went upstairs to my bedroom and shut my door. I opened the bottle and collapsed on my bed.

* * * *

Jared:

"Lynette, do you know where Tyler is?" I said into the ear piece.

"Um, no," she responded. "He's not answering his cell phone?"

"No, that's what worries me. He always answers his cell and the house phone."

"Well, if he calls here I'll have him call you right away." she said.

"Thanks, bye." I hung up and wondered what Tyler was up to. He always answers any phone he has around him.

The rest of my drive home, five minutes (Whoa! Stand back, right?), was filled with worry. I noticed his Murano was in the driveway when I pulled up so I knew he was at least home. I parked then grabbed my stuff before quickly walking up to the front door. The house was silent inside. No one was talking or laughing or even arguing.

"I'm home," I called out. No one responded.

Travers's room was connected to the kitchen; I checked in there first. He wasn't in his room. Figuring the kids might be downstairs, I also checked in the basement, but still nothing. I walked back upstairs and then up to our bedroom.

"Hi dad," Keegan said. He was sitting on his bed playing a video game.

"Hey buddy, why didn't you answer me when I called?" I asked in a pleasant tone even though I was panicked.

"I kind of just got home. I was at Greg's house." he replied.

"Oh okay," I said. "Where's your dad?"

"He's sleeping in the bedroom. He must've had a really hard day because he wouldn't even wake up for me."

"Okay, I guess I'll make dinner then." Keegan paused his game and looked at me. That look that I am so familiar with; I get it every time I mention myself making dinner. I guess the boys have learned that I am no cook compared to Tyler. "I mean, I'll order some Chinese food."

"Thanks, dad!" He resumed his game as I walked out.

Well, I at least knew my youngest was home and safe. I'm not too worried about Travers at least for now. I walked into the master bedroom and saw Tyler passed out under the covers. There was a wine bottle next to the nightstand.

I carefully took my shoes off and crawled up next to him. It always seems like Tyler can be woken by a pin dropping two floors below. He is so easy to wake. And that's exactly what I accidentally did.

"How was work?" he mumbled.

"It was hectic today," I said. A few more minutes of lying here and I would surely fall asleep.

"Sounds fun," he said groggily. "Well, I should get up and make dinner."

I sat up with him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just going to order some Chinese food. You look kind of beat up."

"You have no idea," Tyler choked a bit. He twisted around and kissed my cheek. I caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were red. His cheeks were stained from tears it seemed.

"Honey, what's wrong? Did something happen at work?" I asked worriedly. I started to panic for like the 50th time today. I crawled up next to him and wrapped him up in my arms.

"It's Travers," he cried. "I caught him smoking weed with some guys in the orange groves. I brought him home and he blew up. He said he's not my son and he just wants to die. It was horrible to hear him in such pain, saying that no one really wants him. The adoption obviously hurt him a lot more than we thought and I think we need to get him into counseling maybe."

"Hmm, well we'll definitely look into it, but I'm sure we can work it out without getting a psych involved." I said, remembering my history with psychologists. Nasty creatures they are. Not all are, my mistake, but the one I had was a real ass.

"I'll call the take-out place,"

"No, no, I'll go do that right now. Why don't you just go ahead and rest. I'll get Keegan downstairs so he won't make too much noise."

"I love you so much," he sighed.

"I know you do. By the way, did Travers happen to mention he was going anywhere tonight?"

"No, why?" I sensed a bit of worry in his voice. The last thing I need is for him to get even more upset.

"No reason, he just seemed like he was getting ready to go out. I'll give him a little chat and see if anything serious is going on inside his head."

"Thank you," Tyler lied back down and covered back up. I walked out with one last glance behind me at my strained husband.

I quickly walked into Keegan's room. "Where's your brother?"

"I don't know. He wasn't home when I got home." Keegan said, looking up from a book.

"Well, you're coming with me to find him."

Keegan tossed his book aside and threw some shoes on. I ran downstairs to grab Tyler's keys. Travers may be upset at Tyler, but I might be a different story. If he saw Tyler's Murano gone he might just end up coming back on his own.

We went out and got in the Murano. I asked Keegan if he had any idea of where Travers might be. He suggested we try an arcade first and then head over to a music store where a lot of people hang out. Well, Travers wasn't in the arcade nor was he at the music store.

An hour and quarter tank of gas later, I decided to just call Austin and have him keep a look out for him. I then decided to go and pick up some dinner before heading back figuring I might as well pick it up in five minutes rather than waiting half an hour for it to be delivered.

Keegan was very talkative when we walked inside the house. Once getting over the anxiety of his brother we both kind of livened up. I trusted Austin to find him.

For the next hour and a half, Keegan and I just watched TV in the living room. He was curled up in my lap half asleep. I on the other hand was a nervous wreck. I'm so worried about Travers and yet I'm fucking pissed off.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I carefully placed Keegan next to me and then ran to the phone.

"Austin?" I asked in a hurry.

"I got him," Austin said.

"Oh, thank God," I sighed heavily. "Where was he?"

"Well, you and Tyler are definitely not going to like it, but I'll explain things in a few minutes. I'm on my way right now."

"Thank you so much, Austin!"

"See you in a little bit,"

"All right, bye." I hung up the phone and silently thanked God. Keegan was still asleep when I walked back into the living room. Just then, I heard Tyler coming down the stairs.

"Hi," he mumbled. He walked up to the couch and sat opposite of Keegan next to me.

"Austin's coming over. He found Travers." I said.

"What do you mean he found him? I thought he was in his room?"

"Uh...shit," I groaned.

Tyler sat up and stared at me. "Do you mean that he wasn't home at all?"

"Well, he wasn't home when Keegan or I got home,"

"Where did Austin find him?" Tyler demanded.

"I don't know, he said he'd explain everything when he got here."

"Oh, my God," Tyler stood up and went into the kitchen. I followed him to try and calm him down. "What is going on with him? The pot smoking, the running away, he's never been like this before."

"I'm not sure, but let's just try and keep calm with it, all right? He might just be going through that phase that all kids go through." I said calmly.

"Tomorrow I'm calling my dad to see if he can help me out. Remember those fishing trips he used to take me on?"

"Oh yeah, I remember those. You actually enjoyed them. Most kids probably wouldn't have enjoyed spending the day with their dad fishing, but you just loved those trips."

"I think Travers might like them, too. He's pretty artistic and a somewhat calm kid. He at least has a little bit of common sense."

"Well, we'll definitely call your dad up tomorrow and see if he can take him on Saturday."

Tyler and I talked for a few more minutes before the doorbell rang. When I answered the door, I was surprised to see Travers clean. I expected him to be dirty or bruised up. Luckily he wasn't, I mean. Austin led Travers inside and into the kitchen. Tyler just stared at him with anger.

"So, where'd you find him?" Tyler asked.

"He was at one of the strip clubs on the south side of town. The bouncer suspected his ID to be fake so I got called over." Austin explained. He looked about as pleased as Tyler did. "He's lucky I got answered the call instead of another officer."

"Thank you, Austin." I said as I grabbed Travers's arm and led him into his room, closing the door behind me. Travers sat on his bed and took his shoes off. "So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Whatever," Travers muttered.

"No, not 'whatever'. You know how much you hurt Tyler's feelings by saying what you said to him?"

"A better question would be do I care?"

"Don't you dare be smart with me. Tyler may put up with it, but I sure as hell won't. You'd better start showing him some respect."

"But dad, he annoys the hell out of me."

"I really don't give a damn if he... Wait, annoys you? How the hell does he do that?" I asked incredulously. Tyler hasn't ever annoyed me a day in my life.

"He just does. I don't know. Sometimes he isn't annoying, but most of the time he is to me." Travers tried explaining.

"Well, until you can come up with a valid reason as to why he annoys you then you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. He loves you so much. He's constantly trying to make you happy. Why are you being so selfish?"

"I don't care. I don't want to talk anymore. You know where the door is." he said. He then proceeded to put his earphones on. I was really debating in my mind on whether or not to drag him out of his room and force him to apologize to Tyler, but I figured there'd be a better time for that.

I walked out to find Tyler sipping on some hot tea. He looked even more devastated than before; he must've heard mine and Travers's conversation. Tears were falling down his face.

"Did Austin leave?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Tyler very silently answered. He gave me a knowing look.

"Sorry you had to hear that," I said. I moved to him and wrapped my arms around him. "What do you say you go to bed, I'll tuck Keegan in, and then I can pamper you beyond belief?"

No words left his mouth. He just nodded and took his tea with him up the stairs. I closed the house down downstairs and then wandered upstairs myself. When I went into Keegan's room, Tyler had already tucked him in. I started to get excited thinking about the events that awaited us in the bedroom.

* * * *

Tyler:

"Mom, I told you that you can't call when I'm in class. I even gave you a schedule so you can reach me during a passing period." I said quietly into my phone.

"I'm sorry, but I had to pick Keegan up from school. He wasn't feeling well, and he couldn't get a hold of you." she said.

"Damn, I had my cell on silent for until about twenty minutes ago. When did he try calling me?"

"He said around 10:15,"

"Ah, I was in the office. That's in the middle of third period."

"Uh huh,"

"My planning period,"

"Oh, right, I forgot."

I shook my head and laughed on the inside. "Is he all right?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Just come and get him when you get off work."

"I'll do that," I said. "Thanks, mom." I hung up then went back to teaching my fourth period more about British colonies.

Towards the end of my day I called my mom to talk to her about Travers. She was surprised that Travers said some of the things he did. I also spoke to her about some of Travers's birthday plans I had started to arrange already including a huge surprise I'm giving him. After a few more minutes of nonstop talking, I told her to have dad call me when he gets home from the store then I hung up. I'm sure my dad will be more than happy to take Travers on a fishing trip.

At 3:15 I had to go and pick Keegan up from school. Travers had to stay at school, however, because he got detention for fooling around one too many times in class. That punishment seemed only fair to me.

"Hi dad," Keegan said. He looked a little nervous and upset about something.

"What's up, buddy? Did you have a good day today?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but the principal wants to see you in her office." he said precariously.

"Hmm, do you know what it's about?"

"No, honest,"

I drove to the front office. I told Keegan to wait in the car while I went in to talk to his principal. When I walked inside I was greeted by a gust of cold air. At least the secretaries kept it cool inside.

"Hi Mr. Delfino,"

"Mrs. Patterson, hi," I said to the principal. She caught off guard completely, coming from behind me.

"Sorry to sneak up behind you. I've just been running around all afternoon." she explained. "Now, here are the files you requested. I must say that I was a little surprised to hear that you wanted these. After all, you probably have these same files on your computer at the high school." Mrs. Patterson was smiling as she handed me the file.

I looked at her skeptically. "I'm sorry, but I didn't request any type of file."

"Mr. Delfino, you called me at exactly 12:30 and left my secretary a message stating and I quote, 'I'd like to view Keegan Delfino-Young's records.'"

I pretended to be in deep thought for a moment. "Oh, that's right, I'm so sorry. Today has just been one of those days." Of course I lied. I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Well, just be sure to return these to me immediately or the superintendent will have both of our necks." she said before turning around sharply and walking away.

I drove home with one thing on my mind. For the life of me, I just couldn't figure out who requested Keegan's records. Not until I got home did it dawn on me as I saw an envelope taped to our front door.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I am sorry that this chapter has taken so long for me to post. Lately I have been extremely busy with school. I've been more exhausted than I have ever been I think. Chapter 5 will probably be late as well. My graduation is in the middle of June so after that time the chapters will be quicker posted.

Although this chapter is late, I hope you enjoy it! As always feel free to e-mail me with any comments or questions. Also feel free to join my group at this address. Thanks!